if vision is the only validation, then most of my life isn't real

Not much has been going on in the casa de Summers. We haven't travelled lately, but blame that on the rising cost of...well, everything. Josh has some vacation time coming up. I've been eyeing Wiesbaden for our next getaway. It's fairly close to Frankfurt, has a beautiful downtown, other sites, and more importantly, an Army hotel with reasonable rates.

Josh has been busy with school. He's taking online correspondence courses from Berklee school of Music. I don't remember the exact degree plan he's taking, but he is really enjoying it. That's important. His music seems to be taking off too. Believe it or not, they've had a couple of offers for shows...but being that he's in Germany and his "counterpart" is in the States, it would be kind of hard. A new song that is extraordinary is coming out soon. Be prepared to shake yer bacon.

Speaking of which, Josh turned me onto a new artist, Sam Sparro. Reminds me of Prince. He's got a soulful voice, with amazing beats, and poetic lyrics. He's gonna be big one day, trust me. If you get a chance, check out his self-titled album and some songs worth a listen (they're all good) are "Black and Gold," "21st Century Life," "Cut Me Loose."

A quick musical complaint. Josh has a Zune mp3 player. Basically he pays a flat fee to Microsoft and has unlimited downloads to his player. It's great b/c I can listen to a bunch of bands before deciding if I want to buy something to put on my ipod. Most bands are free, but there are a select few in which you have to actually purchase the album. And, for reasons I don't know, my fave band Fall Out Boy has become one of those bands. :( It doesn't effect me in the aspect that I have their albums on my ipod, but I like to steal Josh's Zune simply b/c he has more music. I feel so burned.

Anyways! I don't remember the last time I've been so productive, but I know why. I'm sick of making stuff for the craft fair and I'm avoiding it! Here are lots of photos of what's been going down in my dining room.
My Happy Place is my scrap area. It's getting to be quite large and I could seriously go for my own room, but I can't complain too much. The location is perfect, since I can keep an eye on the kids while they play. Or often, they join me at the table for arts and crafts while I scrap. You can see my Mary Blair collection along the top of my shelf.
Not completely happy with this LO, but you can't win them all, eh? This photo is of my husband and the owner of a local italian restaurant, Franco. The first night we went there, he came to our table and asked, "Do you like spicey?" Remember, read it with a thick italian accent. Josh replies yes and he leaves, then comes back with a bottle of his very own, "homemade hot pepper liquor." It was a regular fear factor at our table. Josh took a shot and took nearly 30 minutes for him to recover. LOL!!

This layout was made for a contest going on at SiSTV called "Project Catwalk." For round 1, we had to implement everyday household items. I chose coffee filters and a fly swatter (brand new of course). The coffee filters are colored with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (I'm obsessed with this stuff). I then cut them into strips to resemble organza ribbon. The hearts are cut from the flyswatter then painted with black acrylic paint.

This layout was made for Heather's "Reel Classics" on SiS. I used the quote from Casa Blanca, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." I altered the photo in photoship to make it have more of a vintage feel. I added a canvas texture, then a vignette. Another reason for doing this is the original was a bit blurry.

This was also done for another challenge on SiS called "Pass the Parcel." My item to use for the layout was a book page. I colored it with Glimmer Mist, then stamped with Autumn Leaves stamps. The photos are from 4th of July. Anberlin got a huge butterfly painted on her face. :) When we came home that night, she would not let me wash it off. The next morning she begrudgingly allowed me to wash her face, but then sulked the whole day.

This is an altered agenda book from Kaiser Crafts that I made using the new KI Memories Bloom line. Lots of work went into it. For a complete list of materials and a how to, please visit A Daily Inspiration.
The newest ScrapMojo challenge is up. The prompt is to scrap someone answering the question, "What would you do with a million dollars?" Then you also have to use a pin or a pen. These are my best friends...a few are missing though. lol. I have a big group of friends, but we're all spread out now. :(

That's it for now. I have another project to post, but I have to edit the photos. Here is a link to my other site, geared towards my Memory Works side project. Please drop by here and let me know how it looks. I only have one real entry, but hope to get more up tonight after the kids are in bed. Site is here.

xoxo

Jess